Mario Kassar

Mario F. Kassar (ماريو قصار; born October 10, 1951 ) is a Lebanese-American film producer and industry executive who produced the first three films of the Rambo series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Total Recall, The Doors, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Rambling Rose, Basic Instinct, Universal Soldier, Chaplin, Showgirls, and Stargate, among other films.

He founded the now-defunct Carolco Pictures with Andrew G. Vajna.

Kassar was born on October 10, 1951, in Beirut, Lebanon.

Like him, his father was also an independent movie producer.

Kassar is of Lebanese and Italian descent.

At the age of 15, Kassar had purchased several Italian and French films for distribution in the Far East.

Kassar met Andrew G. Vajna at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival.

A year later, Kassar and Vajna founded Carolco Pictures.

"Carolco" was a name they had taken from a long-defunct company based in Panama.

"We just bought the name," Kassar later told Entertainment Weekly.

"It means nothing."

The first film Kassar and Vajna ventured together was The Sicilian Cross, a 1976 Italian film that starred Roger Moore.

They bought the rights to the film for $130,000.

Kassar flew to Asia and sold it for $220,000.

By the early 1980s, Vajna and Kassar had bought a small office in Melrose Avenue.

Their desks faced each other in the office and Vajna's wife and Kassar's girlfriend were their secretaries.

Kassar and Vajna served as executive producers on The Changeling (1980), The Amateur (1981), and Escape to Victory (1981).

The latter film marked the first time for both Kassar and Vajna to have worked with Sylvester Stallone.

In 1980, Kassar and Vajna paid Warner Bros. approximately $383,000 for the option rights of David Morrell's 1972 novel, First Blood.

Even though they overpaid him, Kassar and Vajna cast Stallone as John Rambo because they knew the actor's star status could be used to secure the requisite investment.

From the mid to late 1980s, Kassar executive produced two Rambo sequels: Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988), both of them also released by Carolco.

The result, First Blood, was a major hit in October 1982, and eventually made $125 million on its $14 million investment, making Carolco a major Hollywood production company.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a Lebanese group associated with Kassar's family was instrumental in financing the film.

Kassar carried on with Peter Hoffman, who was president/chief executive of Carolco at the time since 1986.

Hoffman had been introduced to Kassar by Tom Pollock, who would later become head of Universal Studios.

Dino De Laurentiis's defunct studio, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, along with its headquarters in Wilmington, North Carolina was purchased by Hoffman at Kassar's urging.

Kassar also executive produced Angel Heart (1987) and Johnny Handsome (1989), as well as having produced Red Heat (1988).

"They knew the international distribution business so well," remembers Alan Parker, who directed Angel Heart for Carolco.

"They figured out that 60 percent of the revenue of a film comes from outside the U.S. market. Andy and Mario personally knew all the worldwide local independent distributors."

In 1989, Vajna left Carolco and sold his interests to Kassar.

"After Rambo, we were trying to become a major studio. I felt that was the wrong direction," Vajna told Entertainment Weekly.

"My feelings were very negative and it caused a lot of friction between Mario, myself, and Peter (Hoffman), who was by then Mario's right hand. I disagreed with where they wanted to go, and Peter played our egos against each other. He wanted to be a partner."

Kassar and Vajna's partnership had fallen apart that year, and the latter was paid approximately $100 million for his share in the company.

Films that Kassar executive produced during the 1990s included Total Recall (1990), Air America (1990), Narrow Margin (1990), L.A. Story (1991), The Doors (1991), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Rambling Rose (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), Cliffhanger (1993), Stargate (1994), Last of the Dogmen (1995), Showgirls (1995) and Cutthroat Island (1995).

Kassar also produced Universal Soldier (1992) and Chaplin (1992).

During that time, relations between Kassar and Hoffman had degenerated into mistrust and antipathy.

Hoffman thought Kassar's largesse was destroying the company; Kassar suspected Hoffman was scheming to depose him.

Hoffman later resigned in March 1992 with a $1.8 million settlement.

A falling out that he had with Kassar was what caused Hoffman to resign.

"They're extraordinary men, but they couldn't prevent confusion, conflict and disintegration," says Daniel Melnick, who produced Carolco's L.A. Story.